Dog won't walk on laminant floor anymore?

[Deleted]

My dog is about 7 years old (rescue, so IDK for sure). Recently he's been having an issue where he doesn't want to walk in the kitchen on the laminant floor because he slips. We've lived here almost 3 years and had a similar floor before that. He's taken a few skids and falls in the past but nothing major. My other dog knocked him over pretty hard a few weeks ago in the kitchen and I think it may be from that.

His food is in the kitchen and while he WILL go in there to pass through, he would rather not and I think he's freaking himself out because if he finally gets frustrated enough to walk there, he walks funny and slips and freaks himself out again.

He seems normal otherwise, shows no sign of injury (he hops all over when it is time to go outside or for a walk!) so unless he's having a neurological issue, I think he's just being silly.

Has this ever happened to your dog? Do you think I should be more worried? He's kind of a neurotic dog to begin with (is scared of storms, runs the second we raise our voices, can't handle other dogs or strange people, etc) but I don't want to ignore a potential issue.

[brannyboilsover]

Are his nails clipped short so his pads can hit the floor before his nails?

[arterr0]

Our 11 year old does this when we've gone too long between nail trims. If you haven't trimmed his nails in a while, I would start with that.

[puppyluv]

My mom's dog gets like that with stairs every once in a while. It helps to cuts het nails or the hair on the bottom of her paws. Sometimes the hair between her pads get so long she starts slipping on it.

[Deleted]

He hasn't been to the groomer in a while, I wonder if that has something to do with it! That might be such a "duh" that I should have thought of it.

He's a nail biter so they never get super long, but they may be longer than usual.

[Doctorblue]

Can you put a carpet runner in there to give him traction. Slippage is a major issue with older dogs.

[af1212]

Our dog is like that too. She's not old, just a crazy nut and weird about certain floors. When she gets in one of her moods we put a carpet runner across the threshold into the room she's afraid of. It works every time.

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2012 18:04:01 GMT -5 Stan said:

That happened to my dog at 7. She was a Great Dane mix and thus had a short life span. The vet diagnosed doggy dementia. She passed away soon after, which was a blessing because her quality of life had significantly decreased. I hope it's just your pup's nails!

Yikes! That's a scary thought. Thankfully he seems fine otherwise and I don't know what his mix is, but he's only about 55lbs so I'm hoping he'll live 12-14 years (or forever, you know). But his health history before we had him is a mystery so who knows.

He's as energetic and goofy as always, so hopefully it's nothing. I may have to get a carpet runner in there!

[Doggy Mommy]

Get some rugs or runners. Our dog hates the laminate floors. We put a rug between the living room and kitchen and a runner between the living room and stairs, and she's been fine. For the most part she sticks to these paths and doesn't have a problem. She will go on the laminate to get to the door. Keeping the nails short helps too.

I think this is common in older dogs and nothing to be too worried about. He might be getting some arthritis.

[af1212]

Oh - another thing we do is make sure there is absolutely nothing that appears to be blocking her path. Like all chairs are totally pushed in, the trash can is not slightly out of place. My dog seems to be more visually intimidated than anything. When she gets really worked up she stands on the carpet runner and then backs herself into the room. Once she gets in there she turns around and is fine. Dogs are so weird!!

[pitterwoo]

after the nails and adding a runner, if you think he's starting to get arthritis you might want to add a joint supplement to his diet too to help keep him more limber. My dog is starting to get stiff now at 10 and I'm adding curcumin and glucosamine chondroitin.

[isabel]

I like the rug/runner idea. Might make him feel more comfortable initially walking in there if the runner is right there for him to walk on. Hopefully, he'll overcome the fear and get comfortable with it again.

[lolzlala]

Sounds like my 2 1/2 year old hound mix. We just moved into our house with laminate floors - when he visited while we were working in it he'd slip slide when he tried to run and then would freak out and stay in the bedrooms because they had carpet. Now we live here and all rooms have laminate and after a slip in a certain spot he will always try to hurry past it afterwards... which results in more slipping. He also is a dog that is nervous about everything, so we have a hard time keeping up with his nail trims (about 3 nails in he'll freak out enough to pull away no matter how well he's being held - xanax from the vet to keep him relaxed for it doesn't even help.) Hopefully your pup will forget the fall and go in there again. I know putting a towel or small rug on the floor in a spot he's trying to avoid will allow him to walk through like a normal dog.

[tacokick]

Our dog has dementia and is like 20 and takes pills. He had an issue like this before medication. We keep his nails short too.

[audry80]

My 7 year old Jack Russell terrier recently started having the same issue. We now have rug runners down our hallways. He has always been skittish and decided the floor was so scary!!

[beer]

OUr 14 yr old hound mix slips on our wood floors even with short nails. He does have some arthritis in his hips which is part of the problem. We have put down some runners/area rugs for him so he doesn't slip. He likes to run down the stairs to the first floor and has landed flat on his belly when his hips give out.